Categorical Flexibility Research Articles

Phoneme discrimination of an unrelated language: Evidence for a narrow transfer but not a broad-based bilingual advantage

This study examines monolingual and multilingual individuals’ discrimination of stop consonants in a language to which they had never been exposed: Korean. If bilingualism leads to increased flexibility in phonological categorization, we may see a broad-based bilingual advantage for phoneme discrimination. Using a Korean phoneme discrimination task, we compared 56 adults in four groups: monolingual English, bilingual Spanish, bilingual Armenian, and trilingual. Findings indicate that Spanish–English bilingual individuals scored no better than English monolinguals, and lower than Armenian–English bilingual individuals. In this case, the advantage from early childhood non-English exposure or current bilingualism was found to be specific only to languages with similar phonemic categories. This supports a narrow first/second language to third language transfer view of phoneme discrimination skills.

Predictors of semantic categorical flexibility in older adults

This study investigated the processes involved in the aging of semantic categorical flexibility. A previous study revealed the effects of aging on the flexible use of taxonomic relations. We aimed to explain our previous results regarding the performance of older adults; we carried out investigations into the respective roles of executive and conceptual factors in semantic categorical flexibility. Fifty older adults carried out a semantic categorical flexibility task alongside conceptual and executive measures. The results replicate our previous findings and indicate that the predictors of the maintenance of the use of taxonomic relations are conceptual and the predictors of the switching from thematic to taxonomic relations are executive.

Semantic categorical flexibility and aging: Effect of semantic relations on maintenance and switching.

The authors studied the effects of aging on the flexible use of categorization rules based on thematic and taxonomic relations. Two components of flexibility were distinguished: maintenance of a categorical relation, and switching between two relations. Results showed that age affects these two components. In older adults, an effect of the nature of the categorical relations to be used was revealed. Older adults demonstrated a specific difficulty in the flexible use of taxonomic relations. Moreover, all adults, independent of their age, showed better performance in maintaining the use of a categorical relation than in switching between two categorical relations.

Categorical flexibility in preschoolers: contributions of conceptual knowledge and executive control

The current study evaluated the relative roles of conceptual knowledge and executive control on the development of categorical flexibility, the ability to switch between simultaneously available but conflicting categorical representations of an object. Experiment 1 assessed conceptual knowledge and executive control together; Experiment 2 differentiated conceptual knowledge from costly executive processes. In Experiment 1, 3- to 5-year-olds were given a three-choice (taxonomic, thematic, and nonassociate) match-to-sample task and asked to match two associates. In Experiment 2, same-aged children were assessed on another match-to-sample task that reduced executive costs by presenting thematic and taxonomic associates on separate trials. By comparing performance across tasks, age-related changes resulting from conceptual knowledge and executive control indicated that conceptual knowledge of superordinate relations showed gains between 3 and 4 years, whereas gains in executive control were seen between 4 and 5 years, suggesting a décalage in the development of conceptual and executive processes underlying categorical flexibility.

Développement de la flexibilité catégorielle de 3 à 8 ans : rôle des aspects conceptuels

This research addresses the role of the level of conceptualization of categorical rules in the development of categorical flexibility in children. Experiment 1 and 2 compared categorical flexibility on three versions of a match-to-sample task differing in terms of a priori estimated levels of abstraction of the matching rules. Children aged between 3 and 8 were presented twice with a series of 4 picture sets (a target and 3 candidates for matching). Explicit instructions about the rule to be used before and after switching were given on each trial. It was found that age and conceptual difficulty of the rules both influence the extent of flexibility observed. Experiment 3 directly examined children’s conceptualization of the matching rules at hand and revealed a developmental hierarchy similar to the one obtained in the flexibility

Categorical flexibility in children: Distinguishing response flexibility from conceptual flexibility; the protracted development of taxonomic representations

This research explored the development of children's use of multiple conceptual organizations (thematic, taxonomic) in sorting sets of pictures. Experiment 1 revealed that between 5 and 9 years, two forms of categorical flexibility can be distinguished: response and conceptual flexibility. It appeared that children's multiple sorts do not necessarily reflect the use of different conceptual organizations. Such a lag was mainly due to a difficulty in accessing taxonomic representations, specifically in the younger age groups. Therefore, Experiment 2 investigated the development of taxonomic representations using an original approach requiring participants to decide whether new items could be included into an existing taxonomic sort. This approach showed that taxonomic representations were only gradually differentiated from thematic and perceptual ones over the 5 to 10 years period. The discussion raises new hypotheses about the interaction between developing executive control (specifically, increasing resistance to interference of irrelevant information) and increasing conceptual knowledge in accounting for the development of conceptual flexibility.

Mood and flexibility in categorization: a conceptual replication.

The present study tested the hypothesis that positive mood facilitates cognitive flexibility in categorization, i.e., positive mood enhances the ability to categorize flexibly at broad and narrow levels contingent on task requirement. The study was a conceptual replication of the 1990 work by Murray, Sujan, Hirt, and Sujan. Unlike the original study, it was carried out on the WWW with some modifications in the procedure. Participants were 29 women and 132 men whose average age was 29 yr. They were put into a positive, negative, or neutral mood using the Velten technique. Mood was measured with standard mood scales. Subjects then listed similarities differences between two entertainment TV shows. Contrary to the prediction, participants in a positive mood did not list a higher number, more diverse, or more unusual similarities and differences between the shows, and they were not faster than participants with neutral or negative moods. It is concluded that the influence of mood on cognitive flexibility needs to be reconsidered. In research, temporal aspects of categorization performance as well as a wider range of mood valences should be taken into account.

MOOD AND FLEXIBILITY IN CATEGORIZATION: A CONCEPTUAL REPLICATION

The present study tested the hypothesis that positive mood facilitates cognitive flexibility in categorization, i.e., positive mood enhances the ability to categorize flexibly at broad and narrow levels contingent on task requirement. The study was a conceptual replication of the 1990 work by Murray, Sujan, Hirt, and Sujan. Unlike the original study, it was carried out on the WWW with some modifications in the procedure. Participants were 29 women and 132 men whose average age was 29 yr. They were put into a positive, negative, or neutral mood using the Velten technique. Mood was measured with standard mood scales. Subjects then listed similarities or differences between two entertainment TV shows. Contrary to the prediction, participants in a positive mood did not list a higher number, more diverse, or more unusual similarities and differences between the shows, and they were not faster than participants with neutral or negative moods. It is concluded that the influence of mood on cognitive flexibility needs to be reconsidered In research, temporal aspects of categorization performance as well as a wider range of mood valences should be taken into account.

Thematic and taxonomic relations in preschoolers: The development of flexibility in categorization choices

Two experiments examined the development of flexibility of categorization in children aged from 3 to 5, using a picture‐matching task. During a pre‐test, spontaneous matches were observed. Children were next presented with a scene aimed at inducing an alternative match. Finally, they were given a post‐test identical to the pre‐test to assess whether they would maintain their initial choice. Both experiments showed that preschoolers were able to produce different types of categorization choices. In Experiment 1, children had to choose between a thematic and a taxonomic option. Five‐year‐olds showed flexibility and changed their mode of response more often in the presence of the scenes (experimental group) than in their absence (control group). In contrast, 3‐year‐olds' responses seemed to reflect spontaneous variability since their switches were not related to contextual information. In Experiment 2, two more choice options were added. Three‐year‐olds' data replicated the findings of Experiment 1. However, a majority of 4‐year‐olds were consistent on the thematic mode of response and adapted their responses to the scenes only to a limited extent. Overall, the data suggest a developmental path from spontaneous variability to flexibility, via a predominance of one mode of response.

“What Is It?” Categorization Flexibility and Consumers' Responses to Really New Products

To understand really new products, consumers face the challenge of constructing new knowledge structures rather simply changing existing ones. Recent research in categorization suggests that one strategy for creating representations for these new products is to use information already contained in familiar product categories. While knowledge from multiple existing categories may be relevant, little research has examined how (and if) consumers process information drawn from more than one domain. We use two experiments to demonstrate how consumers use cues from multiple categories to develop expectations about and preferences for new products. Our findings suggest that the first plausible category label provided to the consumer significantly influences their categorizations, expectations, and preferences. Only when advertisers place limits on the type of information to transfer from each existing category can consumers use information from multiple categories effectively.

Infants' categorization at the superordinate and basic level: The taxonomic fallacy

In two experiments, 18-month-old infants’ categorization of 3D replicas and 2D photographs of the same animals and vehicles were compared to explore infants’ flexibility in categorization across different object representations. Using a sequential touching procedure, infants completed one superordinate and two basic-level categorization tasks with 3D replicas, 2D cut out photographs, or 2D images on photo cubes (“2D cubes”). For superordinate sets, 3D replicas elicited longer mean run lengths than 2D cut outs, and 3D replicas elicited equivalent mean run lengths as 2D cubes. For basic-level sets, infants categorized high-contrast animal sets when presented with 3D replicas, but they failed to categorize any of the 2D photograph sets. Categorization processes appear to differ for 3D and 2D stimuli, and infants’ discovery of object properties over time while manipulating objects may facilitate categorization, as least at the superordinate level. These findings are discussed in the context of infants’ representation abilities and the integration of perception and action.

Flexible tuning of similarity in exemplar-based categorization.

Flexibility in exemplar-based categorization was investigate in 3 experiments. Ss categorized schematic drawings of individuals'faces while they received information about the kinship relation between these individuals and previously observed exemplars. In Experiments 1 and 2, initial training was incidental, whereas an intentional learning task was used in Experiment 1. In all experiments, the kinship manipulation systematically affected categorizations. Model-based analyses showed that the effect of the kinship manipulation could be described by similarity-based exemplar models if it was assumed that Ss applied different levels of generalization as a function of the kinship instructions

Some further observations on serial enumeration and categorical flexibility

Rats were runway-trained in a variety of serial discriminations that involved three different reward outcomes: Noyes pellets (R), a Kellogg’s Corn Pop (R’), and 30 sec of confinement in an unbaited goal area (N). Each of three groups experienced a series that consisted of a single non-rewarded trip down the runway, irregularly mixed with a longer series that for one group (n = 3) consisted of three trips rewarded with the pellets, followed by a terminal nonrewarded trip (RRRN/N). A second group (n = 6) had the single N series mixed with a series that included an initial trip rewarded with a Pop, and three subsequent trips rewarded with pellets, pellets, and nothing, respectively (R’RRN/N). The remaining group was trained with an RRN/N series pair. The interval between trips within a series was about 20 sec, and the interval between series was about 10 min. All rats developed strong, accurate anticipation of the terminal nonreward event of the longer series. In a 4-day transfer shift phase, a matched one-half of the rats originally trained R’RRN/N were shifted to a new series pair, RRRN/NRRRN, as were all the animals trained RRN/N. The remaining one-half of the matched rats were shifted to RRN/NRRN, as were the animals originally trained on the RRRN/N series pair. The transfer to the new series was plainly more powerful in animals initially trained with the R’RRN series than it was in either of the control groups. This shift result is taken to mean that rats classified the differing motivational events of the R’RRN series into at least three numerical categories: (1) one R’, (2) two Rs, and (3) three rewards.

Task Solubility and Motivational Level in Word Categorization

What happens when adults are presented with an insoluble task? In one of the few studies on this topic, Marquart and Arnold (1952) found that responding on a discrimination task was less flexible and more stereotyped following a period during which the task was insoluble. In the present study, flexibility of word categorization was examined when subjects were presented with a soluble or apparently insoluble task and when motivational level was manipulated by promising subjects $2.00 for correct responding or offering them nothing. The design of the experiment was a 2 X 2 factorial, with both solubility and motivation manipulated between subjects. Each of 28 female and 8 male undergraduates was given a list of 300 words, and on each trial was asked to write down a group of 10 words that fit into one All of the words could be easily categorized, and the list was constructed to include at least 25 simple categories, e.g., flowers, numbers, proper nouns, with a minimum of 10 words per category. Testing was done individually. Fifteen trials were given and subjects had unlimited time to respond. At the end of each trial, the experimenter inspected the subject's responses and said Good to those given the soluble task and told those with the insoluble task that the words chosen were not in the specific category she was looking for. The data were scored by counting the total number of times words appeared more than once across the 15 trials.